Railroad-rail brace



TW. GOLDIE.. RAILROAD RAIL BEACH.

(No Mddel.)

'Patented Feb. 11,1890.

aff

UNITED STATns PATENT @muon WILLIAM GOLDIE, OF WEST BAY CITY, MICHIGAN.

RAI LROADHRAIL BRACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Yatent No. 421,268, dated February11, 1890.

Application filed December 3, 1889. Serial No. 332,376. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern..-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM GoLDIn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Vest Bay City, in the county of Bay and State of Michigan,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RailroaddailBraces; and Ido declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference Inarkedthereon, which form a part of this specification. A

My invention relates to devices to be applied to railroad ties orsleepers for bracing the rail against the crowding strain to which theyare subjected from the passing cars; and my invention consists chieflyin a railbrace composed of sheet metal, provided on its body portionwith suitable openings for the spike and having the ends outside of orbeyond the said openings turned at a right angle with the body portion;and my invention also consists in the form and construction of thedevice, and also in the combination and arrangement of the device,together with the tie and rail, as I shall presently eX- plain, andwhich will be explicitly set forth in the claims of this specification.

One of the objects of my invention is to arrange a device to be appliedto the crossties of a railroad as a brace to support the rail inposition against a crowding strain from the passing cars, whereby aneven and true line of the rails may be maintained and the spreading` ofthe rails is prevented.

Another object is to provide devices for as sisting in sustaining therails against a crowding strain, which device will be inserted betweenthe rail-flange and spike, whereby a greater surface is presented toreceive the chaiing or grinding act-ion of the rail-Harige and thecutting and wearing of the neck por tion of the spike from. the contactwith rail flange prevented.

My invention is illustrated in the accom panying drawings, in whichFigure l is a view in. perspective of myimprovedbrace arranged toresista crowding strain on the rail. Fig. 2 is a View in pei;-

spective of the device arranged to prevent a crowding strain and also toprevent creeping of the rails. Fig. 3 is aview in transverse section ofthe rail and longitudinal section of the crossdtie and embodying myinvention, as shown in Fig. l. Fig. 4t is a side view of the rail andtransverse section of cross-tie with my invention, as shown in Fig. 2,applied thereto. Fig. 5 is a plan view of a portion 6o of Fig. Li. v

Referring to the drawings, in which similar letters indicate like partsthroughout the several views, A represents my improved brace,

and it consists of a metal plate a, of any suitable width and length andof a thickness nearly the same as the base-flange of an ordinaryrailroadrail, and b are openings formed through the plate to receive thespikes commonly used for securing the rail, and c 7o are portions of theplate outside of the openings b, turned at a right angle with the platedownwardly, and they are preferably made in a V form, with the lateraledges of the V beveled to form diagonal cutters d. and e.

As will be seen in Fig. 2, f are portions on the; opposite side edges ofthe plate a, bent downwardly at a right angle, and are arranged with a Vform and provided with cutters g and h, in a like mannerto the cuttersCZ and 8o c before described.

/L' is an ordinary railroad-rail, and j is the cross-tie or sleeper, towhich the rail is secured by the spike l upon the inner side,

while upon the outer side the brace A is placed, with one end presentedto the rail and with one side of one of the portions c againstthelateral edge of the rail-liangc, and the portions c are then driveninto the tie until the under side of the plate a rests upon 9o thetiesmface, A spike Z is then driven through the opening Z9 into the tie,with the extended portion n of the head reaching over the upper bentedge of the portion c, and also over the raildiange, which firmly holdsthe brace and rail in positionA It will be noticed that the portions c,by being thin and provided with diagonal edges, divide the wood acrossthe grain or fiber with a clean shearing cut, and leave the fiber IOOwith little or no compression or bending, so that when in position theypresent at differ--l ent locations on the tie two broad surfaces to bearagainst the end grain of the wood, so that the rails are rigidly heldagainst spreading or lateral movement as the cars pass over them, andthe `side of the inner portion c, which bears against the lateral edgeof the rail-flange, presents a broad bearing-surface to receive thechaiing or grinding action of the flange, which occurs when loadedtrains pass over and depress the rails upon the elastic liber of thesupporting-ties.

As it is necessary and desirable to use on heavy grades, dac., of theroad some means to prevent the rails from creeping or movinglongitudinally, I use the form of rail-brace illustrated in Fig. 2 forthis purpose, the lateral edge of the rail-flange being cut out, as atp, to receive the end of the plate a, and the portions c and f are thendriven into the tie, with the end of the plate wit-hin the notch p, andthe spike Z is then driven in place to hold the rail and rail-bracedown, andthe portions f then present sufficient. surface to retain thebrace against a movement laterally, and the notch p in the rail preventsany movement thereof longitudinally in relation to the plate, while theportions c operate, as before explained, to prevent a crowding strainfrom spreading the rails apart. It is not essential, however, that allof the downwardly-turned portions shall be used, as for resisting thecrowding strain of the rails one of the portions c or f would be veryeffective and produce a fair result.

A very great advantage is gained by the use of my improvement, as itwill be readily understood that the rails supported by a series of myimproved braces will remain in position without liability of spreadingapart under allordinary conditions, so that derailing trains from thatcause will be avoided, and the expense and trouble of keeping the railsin line will be greatly reduced.

Of course it is understood that while I have described thedownwardly-turned portions c and f as being of a V form and providedwith cutting-edges, this is not altogether essential, as some other formmay be adopted, if desired, so long as parts are properly supported bythe end grain of the wood ber,

and the cutting-edges may be omitted, if desired,- especially on thelateral portions f, as they enter the wood lengthwise of or parallelwith the fiber, and one spike-opening may be omitted, if desired,although I prefer to form two openings, so that either end may be placedagainst the rail-flange, and also in curves two spikes might beprofitably used to provide extra resistance. It will also be noticedthat my improved rail-brace is formed so as to be light and strong andcan be made in the various forms, as a new article of manufacture, andshipped in packages and used wherever required without change or withoutother manipulation than driving the proj ecting portions into the tie.

What I claim, broadly, as my invention l. A railroad-brace consisting ofa metal plate having a body portion of rectangular form and provided at'its end with a spikeopening, and having its end portions turned at aright angle with the body portion and provided with cutting-edges,substantially as set forth.

2. A railroad-railbrace consisting of a metal plate having `a bodyportion of rectangular form and provided with openings for the' spike,and having portions of a V form projectin g at right angles from theedges of its under side and provided with sloping cutters, substantiallyas set forth.

3. The combination, with a rail and crosstie, of a rail-brace consistingof a metal plate of rectangular form and with one edge against thelateral edge of the rail-flange and provided with openings for the spikeand with V-shaped portions projecting at right angles from its underside into the tie, and a spike driven through the said opening into thetie and with its head portion reaching over the outer edge of thebase-flange of the rail, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM GOLDIE.

Witnesses:

F. H. TURNER, THoMAs TIERNEY.

